A new report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences shows productivity of Northern and North-Eastern Tasmanian farmers has been impacted by climate change.

Acting bureau executive director Peter Gooday said the Farm Performance and Climate Report used farm survey and climate data between 1977-78 and 2014-15 to isolate the effect of climate on productivity.

“Our research shows that changes in climate over the last 20 years have had a significant negative effect on the productivity of Australian cropping farms,” Mr Gooday said.

“The good news is that farmers are successfully adapting to these changes in climate. After controlling for climate, there has been strong productivity growth on cropping farms over the last decade,” he said.